The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing purified ice pieces and purified liquid water from a source of unpurified liquid water, and the incorporation of such method and apparatus into a domestic refrigerator, while using the same compressor, condenser and insulated cabinet for both the icemaker/water purifier system and the domestic refrigerator.
In my U.S. Pat. No. 4,897,099 I disclose a method and apparatus for forming purified ice pieces from unpurified water such as tap water. The ice pieces are periodically harvested and collected in a bin, the bottom of which is heated as necessary to melt desired quantities of the ice to provide a supply of purified water. In the embodiment disclosure in FIG. 1 of my aforementioned patent, the compressor is deactivated whenever the ice bin is full and the purified water container is full.
In the present invention, the compressor is not necessarily deactivated when the ice bin is full. Since separate evaporator sections are used for icemaking and refrigeration, the icemaking evaporator section can be deactivated while the compressor continues to run, thus providing cooling from the still activated refrigeration evaporator section should it be required.